OpenAI uses its own models to fight election interference

OpenAI, the brains behind the popular ChatGPT generative AI solution, released a report saying it blocked more than 20 operations and dishonest networks worldwide in 2024 so far. The operations differed in objective, scale, and focus, and were used to create malware and write fake media accounts, fake bios, and website articles.

OpenAI confirms it has analyzed the activities it has stopped and provided key insights from its analysis. “Threat actors continue to evolve and experiment with our models, but we have not seen evidence of this leading to meaningful breakthroughs in their ability to create substantially new malware or build viral audiences,” the report says.

This is especially important given that it’s an election year in various countries, including the United States, Rwanda, India, and the European Union. For example, in early July, OpenAI banned a number of accounts that created comments about the elections in Rwanda that were posted by different accounts on X (formerly Twitter). So, it’s good to hear that OpenAI says the threat actors couldn’t make much headway with the campaigns.

Another win for OpenAI is disrupting a China-based threat actor known as “SweetSpecter” that attempted spear-phishing OpenAI employees’ corporate and personal addresses. The report goes on to say that in August, Microsoft exposed a set of domains that they attributed to an Iranian covert influence operation known as “STORM-2035.” “Based on their report, we investigated, disrupted and reported an associated set of activity on ChatGPT.”

OpenAI also says the social media posts that their models created didn’t get much attention because they received few or no comments, likes, or shares. OpenAI ensures they will continue to anticipate how threat actors use advanced models for harmful ends and plan to take the necessary actions to stop it.

Judy Sanhz is a Digital Trends computing writer covering all computing news. Loves all operating systems and devices.

OpenAI’s advanced ‘Project Strawberry’ model has finally arrived

After months of speculation and anticipation, OpenAI has released the production version of its advanced reasoning model, Project Strawberry, which has been renamed “o1.” It is joined by a “mini” version (just as GPT-4o was) that will offer faster and more responsive interactions at the expense of leveraging a larger knowledge base.

It appears that o1 offers a mixed bag of technical advancements. It’s the first in OpenAI’s line of reasoning models designed to use humanlike deduction to answer complex questions on subjects — including science, coding, and math — faster than humans can.

OpenAI could increase subscription prices to as much as $2,000 per month

OpenAI recently surpassed 1 million subscribers, each paying $20 (or more, for Teams and Enterprise), but that doesn’t seem to be enough to keep the company financially afloat given that hundreds of millions of people use the chatbot for free.

According to The Information, OpenAI is reportedly mulling over a massive rise in its subscription prices to as much as $2,000 per month for access to its latest and models, amid rumors of its potential bankruptcy.

A new definition of ‘open source’ could spell trouble for Big AI

The Open Source Initiative (OSI), self-proclaimed steward of the open source definition, the most widely used standard for open-source software, announced an update to what constitutes an “open source AI” on Thursday. The new wording could now exclude models from industry heavyweights like Meta and Google.

“Open Source has demonstrated that massive benefits accrue to everyone after removing the barriers to learning, using, sharing, and improving software systems,” the OSI wrote in a recent blog post. “For AI, society needs the same essential freedoms of Open Source to enable AI developers, deployers, and end users to enjoy those same benefits.”

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